Marco stretches under the comforter and nestles gently into the warmth, enjoying a few extra minutes of comfort. “Yesterday was crazy! My first large-scale fight, a Judgement from the System and new friends made with new foods.” Marco smiles as he pushes back the blankets and slowly gets to his feet, stretching muscles and working our any stiffness a good night of sleep always brings.


    He looks around the room, their plain gray stone box unadorned except for the beds and chests. Everyone else is still sleep, Shen buried under his blankets, Lucia doing an excellent impression of a starfish on top of her bedding and Ben is sleeping face down and snoring lightly.


    Marco walks quietly into the bathroom and turns on the Tidecaller Inscription, hot water beginning to fall like torrential rain immediately. Marco pulls off her sleepwear, piling it on the floor and steps into the calming hot rain, washing away the smells of the kitchen from last night and any stress he has going into this rescue mission.


    He works shampoo into his brown hair, frowning lightly at growth of it. “I need a haircut but I don’t know anything about those here. After the rescue I guess”


    Marco scrubs the rest of his body, turning his lightly tanned skin a light shade of pink from the abrasion and the heat of the water. He rinses all of the suds off and steps out of the shower, toweling dry and then pulling under clothes from his [Inventory].


    He walks out of the bathroom, seeing the other stirring awake and quickly pulls on the rest of his under-armor clothes, fighting with the tight pants because of his damp legs. He stumbles slightly, catching himself on the bed with an outstretched arm. Marco finally manages to get dressed and greets his now awake party members.


    “Good morning! Hope you all slept well.” Marco greets, to a chorus of mumbled greetings.


    The hallway is empty as he heads toward the kitchens to grab a tray of burritos from Ethil and Doris, two filled with scrambled eggs and an assortment of seasoned vegetables and two with pork breakfast sausage added. He also grabs some of the other treats that he asked them to make last night, for their upcoming camping trip.


    He quickly returns to the room, entering the stone box with burritos in hand, to see Shen exiting the bathroom and Ben entering behind him. “I brought breakfast!”


    Lucia is sitting on her bed, bleary eyed and stiff with sleep still, reaches out a hand and Marco brings her a burrito.


    “Thank you,” Lucia mumbles while quickly unwrapping the breakfast food and taking a big bite. “Wow! This is so tasty.”


    Small bits of food spray from her mouth as she talks with her mouth full. Shen comes over to Marco and accepts a vegetable burrito, thanking the man and returning to his bed to eat.


    Marco unwraps his burrito, groaning at the flavors of cheesy scrambled egg and greasy breakfast sausage, “Ethil and Doris knock it out of the park once again.”


    “So, what do we know about this rescue?” Marco asks, between bites of burrito.


    Shen chews and swallows before saying, “I’m not quite sure, other than the fact that the city of Hopesfall is about a day’s journey from the wall.”


    The bathroom door opens and Ben walks into the gray stone room, towel wrapped low around his hips, showcasing pale skin and tight abdominal muscles. Marco has to tear his focus away from the sight and focuses on making eye contact with Shen and Lucia, a small knowing grin on the latter''s face.


    “According to our family''s records, the city will be filled with captives and lesser Liches along with scores of minions to tend the fields.” Lucia supplies, finishing off her burrito and lobbing her greasy parchment paper into the trash can across the room.


    Ben pulls on his white under armor and Marco sighs in mixed relief and disappointment as the sight disappears. “Lucia and Shen are correct, the city of Hopesfall is just over a day’s travel from here and the woods in the intervening space are full of roaming patrols lead by Legion Knights and Abominations.”


    Everyone finishes pulling on their armor pieces, Marco leaves his armor top off until they reach the Deadwoods and they leave to report to the portcullis and begin their journey.


    Marco and his team form up next to Coron’s team, nervousness rippling through the gathered crowd. “Hello Coron! Harold, Alya, and Garreth it is nice to see you all once again.”


    “Hello Marco! Excited for the rescue mission?” Coron asks, the other members of his team extend greetings to Marco as well.


    “Nervous, but excited to see more of this world, even an undead city!” Marco says, pausing in shock as a small explosion of leaves reveals Violet Forestsong at the head of the formation, back to the portcullis.


    “Greetings Adventurers. Today we have the special privilege of entering the deepest parts of the Deadwood to travel toward Hopesfall city.” Violet announces, her regal voice mixing with the sharp smell of verdant earth and flora. “It will be a day’s long journey through monster infested lands.”


    When she finishes speaking the portcullis is raised, the heavy metal gate floating effortlessly upward as the Adventurers stream out.


    Marco once again emerges out into the gray world of the Deadwoods, pulling on his upper armor and casting [Salt Skin]. The others around him do the same; Shen with his [Earthen Armor], Ben casts his [Hyperion Plate], plates of hardlight snapping into place around him. Coron is covered in a swirling armor made of [Air], the members of his party also armoring up and making sure they were protected.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Harold has a much bulkier set of [Salt] Armor conjured around him, bulky pauldrons and thick chest plate make the tall man look even larger. Marco has to resist the urge to summon a [Salt Bolt] when two dozen golems made of roots and leaves rip themself from the surrounding trees and form up around the Adventurers, protecting them.


    They begin their journey to the south, slowly ramping up the speed until they are moving through the forest at a blurring pace. Anytime monsters are seen they are almost immediately obliterated by a rain of spell fire, in every element and form.


    Marco looks around as they run through the dead forest, keeping a look out for monsters and keeping up a running dialogue with those around him.


    He snaps to attention when a Dark Ent glowing with the sickly green light of [Curse] charges them, having disguised itself as a normal blackened tree. Marco launches a [Salt Strike], the large monster impaling itself ever deeper as its momentum pushes it forward onto the wickedly sharp salt spikes.


    The Ent dies, shredding itself on the [Salt] magic, the huge body of the former tree dissolving into dust and magic.


    “Good hit, Marco!” Harold says in his booming voice, letting his conjured [Salt Hammer] dissipate.


    “Thank you! Elemental match up did me favors!” Marco calls, catching back up to the group and matching their speed.


    They continue their trek through the gray expanse of forest, several hours pass before they reach a clearing filled with brown wood structures. “Huh, they look like lean-tos.”


    “Welcome to your home for the evening! We made great time on the journey here and will be able to make it to Hopesfall by midmorning tomorrow.” Violet’s voice sounds from around the clearing, the root golems’ mouths moving in time.


    “Everyone, find a lean-to for yourself and your party and get some rest, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”


    The root golems fall apart, tangling together to form a low wall around the entire clearing. “Magic is so cool!” Marco thinks and heads toward the lean-to next to the one Coron’s party already claimed.


    Marco tucks his upper armor into his [Inventory] and pulls sweater out at the same time, pulling the warm garment over his head he sighs, “So comfy.”


    The summer heat is beginning to give way to fall chill in the depth of the forest, the perpetual fog and heavy tree cover making the ambient temperature much cooler than outside of the Deadwoods.


    “Any opinions on dinner?” Marco asks while building a small fire pit with blocks of [Salt] and some wood from within his [Inventory].


    “Vegetable curry!” “Beef stew!” “Soup!” His group calls out.


    Marco thinks and decides to go with curry, with all of the elves present he can share the vegetable forward dish easier.


    “Is everyone alright with vegetable curry and flatbread?” Marco asks, conjuring a [Salt] table with a thick top to use as a cutting board and work station. Everyone nods and he begins to pull out vegetables and ingredients to make the curry.


    “Shen! Are you able to make me a metal pot?” Marco calls to the man within the lean-to.


    “Yes! Give me a minute and I will be right out.” The elf calls back, appearing a minute or so later and concentrates, a large metal soup pot forming between his hands.


    Lucia seems to read his mind and lights the fire with a small low-powered [Fireball], the dry wood instantly catching and burning merrily. Marco puts his new pot over the fire, held in place by a couple of smartly fashioned feet on the bottom, and splashes a small amount of oil into the pot.


    Sliced onion goes into the pot, along with grated garlic and ginger, Marco allows those to sweat together and extract all of that flavor into the oil. He adds a chopped green chili and a tablespoon of cumin seed to the sizzling pot. The smells begin to draw attention and Marco decides he is going to need a bigger batch of curry and bulks up his batch size.


    He adds a dozen chopped tomato and lets them cook down and reduce before adding in some of the thick tomato paste. He toasts the tomato paste, cooking out some of that acidic flavor that tomato paste tends to have.


    Marco pulls out an assortment of spices; turmeric, chili powder, coriander seed, garam masala, and cumin and tosses a measured amount of each into the pot and allows them to toast and infuse. Once all of those flavors have had time to mingle and develop, he adds a large jar of coconut milk he got from Lucas and a quarter that amount of water.


    He peels his pumpkin, cutting into small cubes and moving on to dicing his summer squash and zucchini before separating the florets of a massive head of cauliflower. He adds the pumpkin and lets it cook for about ten minutes before adding the other vegetables.


    Those vegetables simmer for another ten minutes before adding his peas and ripped up baby spinach. Marco moves on to flatbread, mixing flour, water, yogurt, sugar, and olive oil in a conjured [Salt] bowl, he lightly kneads the dough and lets it rest for a second tasting his curry and adding a good amount of salt and a little more chili powder.


    He separates the dough into small portions and flattening them with a [Salt] rolling pin and a liberal amount of flour before asking Shen to give him another cooking surface.


    “Can I have a plate of metal, as smooth as you can make it to cook these flatbreads on, please?”


    Shen nods and conjures a large griddle for him to cook bread on, he nestles it within the fire for Marco and sits back to watch and enjoy the smells once again.


    Marco throws a knob of butter onto the cooking surface and a splash of oil and then places his first three flatbreads onto cook once the surface is preheated. It instantly bubbles and puffs up; Marco turns it over and reveals a golden spotted bread.


    He finishes cooking all of the flatbreads and grabs stash of yogurt and chops some cilantro for garnish. Marco invites over Coron’s team and begins to serve bowls of fragrant curry and a buttery flatbread to all of his friends.


    The curry is a beautiful shade of orangey yellow and full of different colored vegetables and visual textures. He serves up his own bowl but refrains from eating, instead offering the rest of the large pot of curry to those around him. Most everyone takes him up on his offer, walking over to the pot and joining the large crowd.


    Marco eats, surrounded by friends and fellow Adventurers and is happy and content, even deep in the core of the Deadwoods and approaching a dangerous situation.


    Everyone finishes up dinner, Shen dissolves his cook pot and griddle and Marco expands the firepit, spreading out the fire and letting the coals burn hotter.


    Marco gets everyone around the fire, sitting in various conjured chairs or hovering in a seated position.


    “Tonight, I am introducing a beloved dessert and tradition from my home. S’mores.” Marco pulls out the goodies he got from Ethil and Doris this morning, homemade marshmallow, graham crackers and nicely tempered chocolate. “Shen, could we have a bunch of thin metal poles? I’ll make the handles so no one gets burnt.”


    Shen conjures twenty thin metal poles and Marco begins to spear marshmallows and then pass them out.


    “Toast the marshmallow until golden brown, be careful they are prone to catching on fire.” Marco explains, he watches with delight as everyone begins to toast the fluffy treat over the coals, some people ignoring his warning and letting their marshmallow light.


    Marco sets up all of the other things needed for s’mores and helps people make their very own delicious marshmallow chocolate sandwich.


    “This has been a great night!” Marco thinks to himself, watching seasoned Adventurers trying to toast their marshmallow with faces of extreme focus. He sees Ben out of the corner of his eye, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth in focus and smiles.


    “Whatever tomorrow throws at us, at least we had this gathering.”